{"id":254792,"date":"2021-10-11T06:40:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T11:40:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=254792"},"modified":"2021-10-08T20:44:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-09T01:44:21","slug":"parenting-son-down-syndrome-greatest-pro-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/parenting-son-down-syndrome-greatest-pro-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom says parenting son with Down syndrome is the ‘greatest pro-life work’ she could ever do"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Catherine Daub and her family have learned firsthand the reality of having a child with Down syndrome. In the Summer 2021 issue of American Life League’s Celebrate Life magazine<\/a>, the long-time pro-life activist shared the story of learning that her eighth living child, William, had a “99 percent chance” of having Trisomy 21, or Down syndrome. Daub described how her family’s experience has differed from the gloom-and-doom predictions she read online after receiving William’s diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Having participated in pro-life activism over the years, by 2019 Daub had settled into her role as director of ALL’s ‘Culture of Life Studies Program’ (CLSP), which creates supplementary materials for incorporating the pro-life message into K-12 curricula. At the time, she wrote that she felt “quite certain that this [CLSP role] was how\u00a0God would use me to help build a culture of life while\u00a0still allowing me to be a mom and\u00a0a wife first and foremost.” And with seven living children and nine miscarried babies, she also felt sure that “the next baby I’d care for would be a grandchild.”<\/p>\n

But then, in October of 2019, Daub learned that she was pregnant at age 49.\u00a0Several months later, Daub received a call from her doctor, expecting to learn the baby’s sex. She learned he was a boy, and had “a 99 percent chance of having Trisomy 21.”<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Doctors urged Emersyn\u2019s parents to abort because of Down syndrome. Today, she\u2019s thriving.<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

“I was\u00a0okay with this news. I really was,” Daub reflected. “We already had a niece\u00a0and a good friend with Down syndrome, and my husband had had a brother with Down syndrome, so I knew\u00a0the secret. I knew that we would be\u00a0welcoming a living saint into our\u00a0family. I knew that there would be\u00a0a new kind of peace and joy that\u00a0would accompany us. But still I was\u00a0shocked. And terrified.”<\/p>\n

But an internet search about Down syndrome only fed the flames of her fears, with one negative description after another. “They conflicted with what I\u00a0knew to be true about my niece and others, but still they\u00a0swirled in my head.” On the popular “What to Expect” website<\/a>, children with Down syndrome were described as having “Eyes that slant upward, a flattened nose, a short\u00a0neck, small ears, a tongue that may stick out of\u00a0the mouth, large tongue, small hands and feet,\u00a0and low muscle tone or loose ligaments.” Parents were also warned that:<\/p>\n

Kids also\u00a0tend to face a range of developmental delays as\u00a0well as a variety of health conditions. Half of babies with Down syndrome are born with heart defects, more than 60 percent have vision problems,\u00a0and 75 percent have some hearing loss. About 12\u00a0percent are born with an intestinal blockage at\u00a0birth requiring surgery [on] twisted or misshapen intestines. Children with Down syndrome also\u00a0are more likely to develop hypothyroidism, leukemia and celiac disease later on.<\/em><\/p>\n

Daub is just one of many parents<\/a> who feel more anxious after reading about their child’s diagnosis on the internet.<\/p>\n

After an emotionally challenging pregnancy, William came several weeks early in June 2020. His umbilical cord had to be cut\u00a0before<\/em> delivery because it was wrapped too tightly around him.\u00a0Daub recalled the first time she held him:<\/p>\n

He was beautiful. He was ours.\u00a0The fears of the last nine months just disappeared\u2014or at\u00a0least no longer mattered…\u00a0 He was\u00a0here. He was perfect. Against great odds, he had made\u00a0it. And now I knew for certain, looking into that angelic\u00a0little face, that God had called us to the greatest pro-life\u00a0work we could ever be a part of. We would now stand\u00a0between William and the world. We\u2019d be his voice. And\u00a0in being his voice, we\u2019d be the voice for others like him.<\/em><\/p>\n

William is now 16 months and thriving. He already has his own Instagram account<\/a>\u00a0and website<\/a> for friends and family to keep up with his adventures.\u00a0And his mom Catherine has some suggestions for websites telling parents “what to expect” of children with Down syndrome. Her proposed alternate content would read:<\/p>\n

Eyes that sparkle and see beauty in everything around them; eyes that will gaze at you like you are the most important person in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n

Small hands that love to hold your finger<\/em><\/p>\n

Ears that may have a harder time hearing sounds,\u00a0<\/em>but that can hear the voice of God more clearly\u00a0<\/em>than you ever will<\/em><\/p>\n

A heart that will possibly need physical repair\u00a0<\/em>but that is open, loves unconditionally, and will\u00a0<\/em>teach you to do the same<\/em><\/p>\n

Muscles that grow and develop in their own\u00a0<\/em>perfect time<\/em><\/p>\n

A smile that is infectious and will stop people\u00a0<\/em>in their tracks everywhere you go<\/em><\/p>\n

An inner resilience that will inspire you to\u00a0<\/em>be braver than you thought possible<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cLike\u201d Live Action News on Facebook<\/em><\/a>\u00a0for more pro-life news and commentary!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Catherine Daub and her family have learned firsthand the reality of having a child with Down syndrome. In the Summer 2021 issue of American Life League’s Celebrate Life magazine, the long-time pro-life activist shared the story of learning that her eighth living child, William, had a “99 percent chance” of having Trisomy 21, or Down […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":635,"featured_media":254858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[9455,3473],"tags":[2706,13322,13325,429,13323,13324],"yoast_head":"\nMom says parenting son with Down syndrome is the 'greatest pro-life work' she could ever do<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Despite negative messages during pregnancy, Catherine Daub and her family have learned firsthand the beautiful reality of having a child with Down syndrome.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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